Nairobi — MPs loyal to Deputy President William Ruto have vowed to block the implementation of the Political Parties Amendment Bill of 2021 should it pass in the National Assembly and Senate.
The leaders issued the threat Wednesday at the start of a three-day special sitting in the National Assembly to debate the Bill expected to shape the August election.
“I wonder why they are chest-thumping; this Bill would never survive if it’s taken to court. It has issues with public participation, clauses that clog and fester democracy in the country, so my view is fine, let him use the numbers in Parliament and we will go to court,” Tharaka MP George Murugara told Capital FM, revealing the plan by the Tanga Tanga wing comprising leaders supportive of Ruto’s quest to become president.
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His counterpart from Kandara Alice Wahome who has proposed several amendments in the Political Parties Act has maintained the House was passing the Bill in vain as it is in contravention of the Constitution.
“Even if this House passes the laws, they will be doing it in vain. This House should not be passing laws in vain,” Wahome stated.
Majority Leader in the National Assembly Amos Kimunya who is the sponsor of the Bill says he has marshaled enough members to ensure that the amendments are dispensed with, and the Bill forwarded to the Senate for concurrence.
“I am confident that we will amend laws without acrimony witnessed previously. Some MPs have even written to indicate that they will drop their amendments. This essentially means that we will just deal with the Bill within two days or so,” Kimunya said.
He said that they are pushing to have the Bill ready for assent by President Uhuru Kenyatta by the end of January despite the filibustering witnessed in the last two special sittings last week.
“It’s important to have this bill passed by both houses this month so that in February political aspirants and political parties have know-how on the procedure they should follow. The essence of dispensing it quickly is so that political parties have ample time to understand and implement it,” stated Kimunya.
Majority Whip Emmanuel Wangwe cautioned MPs against engaging in acrimony while debating the Political Parties Bill insisting that they are set to impede any such moves.
“Whatever tactics Tangatanga will apply, we are ready for them, and we will counter any games that they are ready to play. Our focus is to prosecute the bill to its logical conclusion during the three-day special sitting. We want to pursue the bill to the third reading,” said Wangwe.
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On the other end, MPs loyal to Deputy President William Ruto have promised to ensure that their amendments in the Political Parties bill sail through, insisting that they have numbers to carry the day.
“What numbers are they talking about? William Ruto commands more than 140 MPs and we must counter-check every proposal in the bill to ensure we have a good bill that will serve the interest of Kenyans. “We will drag as long as it takes to ensure we have good laws that will serve the interest of Kenyans,” said Belgut MP Nelson Koech.
A special session of the National Assembly last week degenerated into chaos, with Sigowet Soin MP Benard Koin sustaining a serious eye injury blamed on Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Chairman and Minority Leader John Mbadi.